[ back ]

05.23.03

Coming soon to a desktop near you
 

Emily Chen learns about surgical procedures during the OR Open House.

fter a few attempts with the needle holders, visiting surgeon Allen “A.J.” Smith clamped a tiny pair of clips onto a vessel loop with great precision—for a 3-year-old. In the next operating room, the sound of a drill filled the air as a 7-year-old and his 6-year-old assistant took turns screwing pins into a model of a fractured femur. Down the hall, several children waited to choose the color of their finger casts.

On May 4, 300 pint-sized surgeons-to-be had the chance to play “Operation” with real medical instruments in Children’s operating rooms. The annual OR Open House was sponsored by the perioperative nurses as part of Nursing Week. “This is a great way to help children to feel comfortable with the idea of the operating room,” says Michele Serino, RN, one of the event’s organizers. “And who knows—it might even inspire some future nurses and pediatric surgeons.”

Children who attended also received free bike helmets and fingerprinting for personal safety kits. Kaleigh Cronin, a cast-member from the kids’ TV show Zoom, stopped by to sing with children in the post-op area.—CB